Ratio questions in numerical reasoning tests ask you to compare quantities, share an amount between parts, or scale a quantity up or down while keeping proportions fixed. They appear in almost every publisher’s numerical test because they compress several arithmetic skills into one question.
Practise the real thing: these questions appear inside our free numerical reasoning test, a full-length timed test with a worked solution for every answer. No sign-up.
A ratio question usually gives you either two quantities to express as a ratio in its simplest form, a total to divide in a stated ratio, or one side of a ratio and asks for the other. The multiple-choice options are built from the mistakes people make: reversing the order of the ratio, dividing by the number of parts on one side rather than the total number of parts, or scaling one side without the other.
How to handle ratio questions
Convert the ratio into parts, then find the value of one part. That single habit solves the large majority of ratio questions in a graduate test.
If 4,900 parcels are split between three depots in the ratio 3:4:7, add the parts: 3 + 4 + 7 = 14. One part is 4,900 ÷ 14 = 350. The largest depot takes 7 parts, so 7 × 350 = 2,450. Check by adding: 1,050 + 1,400 + 2,450 = 4,900.
The two errors to avoid:
- Stopping at one part. 350 will be one of the options.
- Answering for the wrong share. Read whether the question wants the largest, the smallest, or the difference between two of them.
Ratio questions also appear disguised, as “for every”, “per” or “out of”. A question saying three machines produce 7,200 units in four hours is a rate question that behaves like a ratio: reduce it to one machine for one hour, then scale back up.
More numerical question types
- Percentage change questions
- Data interpretation questions
- Graph interpretation questions
- Number series questions
- Currency conversion questions
Or go back to the full numerical reasoning tests guide.
